Critical minerals may not be the current focus of a trip top Trump officials are planning as they head for Greenland this week amid political turmoil, but the potential for projects to pump out more raw materials is likely not far from the administration’s thinking.
President Donald Trump said Wednesday during a radio interview that the U.S. needs the Danish territory “for international safety and security,” adding that “we have to have it” — comments that were met with stiff pushbackfrom Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who called the U.S. attention “overwhelming.”
Trump has repeatedly made the national security case for securing Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark that’s home to roughly 56,000 people who are Danish citizens. The president’s rhetoric has fueled industry buzzabout the Danish territory emerging as a possible hub for both rare earths and energy-hungry data centers.
Yet the delegation traveling to the Danish island — Vice President JD Vance, second lady Usha Vance, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and national security adviser Mike Waltz — are scheduled to visit the Pituffik Space Base, not mining sites.
